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Education, Occupational Environment, and Cognitive Function in Later Life

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  • Qiuchang (Katy) Cao
  • Dawn C Carr
  • Miles G Taylor

Abstract

ObjectivesEducation is among the most robust predictors of cognitive health outcomes in later life. However, few studies have comprehensively evaluated whether and how much of this effect is explained by occupational exposures. This study aims to determine if and how much pre-retirement occupational exposures (occurring before age 60) mediate the association between education and cognitive function at age 65+.MethodsWe use data drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Occupation Information Network (O*NET) data. Informed by previous research and theory, we conducted Confirmatory Factor Analyses of occupation-level exposure measures using a longitudinal HRS-O*NET linked data set we created, and we identified 2 latent factors: occupational hazards and occupational complexity. Among initially employed adults (age 51–60 at baseline), we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to evaluate the association between education and cognitive function at age 65+, and the role of our 2 occupational factors in mediating this association.ResultsThe measurement and structural models both had good model fit (TLI, CFI ≥ 0.95, SRMR

Suggested Citation

  • Qiuchang (Katy) Cao & Dawn C Carr & Miles G Taylor, 2025. "Education, Occupational Environment, and Cognitive Function in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 80(7), pages 411-423.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:80:y:2025:i:7:p:411-423.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbaf043
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